ETTG – UNDP
Timeline: July 2023 – December 2023
This ETTG-UNDP project examined the evolving African Union-European Union partnership on peace, security, and governance. The project comes at a critical time, as the Sahel region faces growing instability, coups d’état, and the ever-present threat of extremism. The war in Ukraine has further complicated the situation, diverting resources and attention.
The Project’s Focus: Rethinking Strategies in a Turbulent Context
The project explored how the AU-EU partnership can be strengthened to address these challenges. A key component will be a background report examining:
| The history and current state of the AU-EU partnership |
| The impact of the war in Ukraine and the rise of the “Global South” |
| The complex situation in the Sahel region, including insecurity, political instability, and the limitations of existing regional and international responses |
| Dialogue and Collective Solutions |
The project facilitated two events, one in Brussels and one in Dakar
The events gathered over 120 participants in a span of two days and counted on interventions by African experts, European officials, renowned researchers, ambassadors, ministers and international organisations.
The political and security context in the Sahel is extremely complex, characterized by military coups, weak regional institutions, and multipolar competition. This has strained the EU-AU relationship and reduced the capacity to prevent and reduce conflicts.
The region can benefit from a coordinated approach that carefully navigates the situation by developing tailored packages of integrated actions that combine peace and security measures with economic and social initiatives.
Amongst our key recommendations are the following:
- As political instability persists in the Sahel, tailored and combined peace-security-economic initiatives from the EU and AU are required.
- Open communication with military governments is crucial, testing Europe’s global power in a multipolar context. Strategic patience is vital to avoid regional collapse.
- Rebooting EU-AU relations needs a clear African strategy for internal cohesion and equal partnerships with external powers.
- Lifting sanctions on Niger and addressing root causes like poverty and weak development are more effective than sanctions hindering civilians. Cooperation is key to tackling systemic issues.
